Re: Privacy Issue (LEGIT QUESTION)
This WebDNA talk-list message is from 2003
It keeps the original formatting.
numero = 49517
interpreted = N
texte = Alex,Thank you for a well stated question. The answer is that nothing bad happens if a connection can't be established. The logging mechanism's main purpose is to help us understand what licenses are being actively used on what release versions and OS platforms, not license enforcement. There is no 'automatic' or 'active' enforcement mechanism. As stated in the EULA, it sends serial number, version, OS, hostname ... the part that wasn't clearly stated is this is only IF it can connect. If a connection is made, we can reply back with a text message to the admin panel, e.g., upgrade offers, bug fix availability, or just please call us. Serial numbers can be retired due to cross-grades, upgrades, and trade-ins, in which case we confer with a customer when they have completed necessary beta-test, staging, and production launch of the new license, only after which the old license is manually added to a database of retired licenses via an admin-privileged template. A retired license defaults to 'demo' mode.Bottom line, if someone is determined to pirate software, they'll find a way to do it and so any rigid or automatic enforcement mechanism would just become too onerous for the honest customers. At some point you have to believe that your honest customers understand that not paying for use of a product just hurts their own cause in the long run by making it difficult to support and sustain that product. On a slightly different thread, if your customers are concerned about the commitment to the product, you can look at 5.0 as an indication of that commitment. Why would any company put several man-years of effort into a new product release if there wasn't a long term commitment to the business model? The fact that we have remained so committed in the face of the very challenging economic times the past few years, and even continued to invest significantly in the product, says a lot about our support of the product and the business model.Phil B.-----Original Message----- From: Alex McCombie To: WebDNA-Talk@talk.smithmicro.com Sent: 4/15/03 8:03 AM Subject: Privacy Issue (LEGIT QUESTION)Very important question I MUST have answered from SMSI....What happens when webcat attempts to make its connection for Serial Number verification if SMSI is not available to respond?In a meeting just yesterday where I was beaten up a bit over the SMSI corporate financials (as it pertains longevity of the company/software) I countered with the concept that WebDNA is offering the client a substantial cost benefits and even with the loss of author support of the product the software will continue to run indefinitely.In following the privacy thread (for legitimate business reasons and not the bitching part) I was surprised to see that there is a 2-way communication process that can/does occur during this check... Clearly this is for allowing some type of 'authorized' response which could be altered to 'disable' retired serials.So you are probably beginning to see my concerns. I would hope that the response, nor even the availability of SMSI servers is NOT required to enable a legitimate install to start up or continue to run! Then again, after my beating at the round table yesterday, I am not willing to leave it to faith ;-) Hope you all understand.So is a viable connection to the SMSI required for a legitimate install to operate?Thanks Alex Alex J McCombie New World Media Chief Information Officer Drawer 607 800/724.8973 Fair Haven, NY 13064 Alex@NewWorldMedia.com http://OurClients.comInterface Designer WebDNA Programmer Database Designer------------------------------------------------------------- This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to the mailing list
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Associated Messages, from the most recent to the oldest:
Alex,Thank you for a well stated question. The answer is that nothing bad happens if a connection can't be established. The logging mechanism's main purpose is to help us understand what licenses are being actively used on what release versions and OS platforms, not license enforcement. There is no 'automatic' or 'active' enforcement mechanism. As stated in the EULA, it sends serial number, version, OS, hostname ... the part that wasn't clearly stated is this is only IF it can connect. If a connection is made, we can reply back with a text message to the admin panel, e.g., upgrade offers, bug fix availability, or just please call us. Serial numbers can be retired due to cross-grades, upgrades, and trade-ins, in which case we confer with a customer when they have completed necessary beta-test, staging, and production launch of the new license, only after which the old license is manually added to a database of retired licenses via an admin-privileged template. A retired license defaults to 'demo' mode.Bottom line, if someone is determined to pirate software, they'll find a way to do it and so any rigid or automatic enforcement mechanism would just become too onerous for the honest customers. At some point you have to believe that your honest customers understand that not paying for use of a product just hurts their own cause in the long run by making it difficult to support and sustain that product. On a slightly different thread, if your customers are concerned about the commitment to the product, you can look at 5.0 as an indication of that commitment. Why would any company put several man-years of effort into a new product release if there wasn't a long term commitment to the business model? The fact that we have remained so committed in the face of the very challenging economic times the past few years, and even continued to invest significantly in the product, says a lot about our support of the product and the business model.Phil B.-----Original Message----- From: Alex McCombie To: WebDNA-Talk@talk.smithmicro.com Sent: 4/15/03 8:03 AM Subject: Privacy Issue (LEGIT QUESTION)Very important question I MUST have answered from SMSI....What happens when webcat attempts to make its connection for Serial Number verification if SMSI is not available to respond?In a meeting just yesterday where I was beaten up a bit over the SMSI corporate financials (as it pertains longevity of the company/software) I countered with the concept that WebDNA is offering the client a substantial cost benefits and even with the loss of author support of the product the software will continue to run indefinitely.In following the privacy thread (for legitimate business reasons and not the bitching part) I was surprised to see that there is a 2-way communication process that can/does occur during this check... Clearly this is for allowing some type of 'authorized' response which could be altered to 'disable' retired serials.So you are probably beginning to see my concerns. I would hope that the response, nor even the availability of SMSI servers is NOT required to enable a legitimate install to start up or continue to run! Then again, after my beating at the round table yesterday, I am not willing to leave it to faith ;-) Hope you all understand.So is a viable connection to the SMSI required for a legitimate install to operate?Thanks Alex Alex J McCombie New World Media Chief Information Officer Drawer 607 800/724.8973 Fair Haven, NY 13064 Alex@NewWorldMedia.com http://OurClients.comInterface Designer WebDNA Programmer Database Designer------------------------------------------------------------- This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to the mailing list . To unsubscribe, E-mail to: To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to Web Archive of this list is at: http://webdna.smithmicro.com/------------------------------------------------------------- This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to the mailing list . To unsubscribe, E-mail to: To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to Web Archive of this list is at: http://webdna.smithmicro.com/
Phillip Bonesteele
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